All existing equipment, either mobile, semi-mobile or stationary, is based on a common principle: that snow and ice are melted in a single receptacle being at the same time a snow container and a combustion chamber. By diffused internal heat, that is by hot air blown or by hot water radiators or any other combination, the snow is melted inside the mechanical means used to produce the heat. Furthermore, this indirect heat is used only once, generating significant operating costs.
Existing equipment consists of devices pulled by tractor or tractor-trailer moving continually during snow removal and melting operations, without any system for recovering the water produced. Consequently, the water produced during the operation must be evacuated simultaneously by the machine, which does not have the capacity to channel it toward a specific location, such as municipal sewers.
Furthermore, existing devices do not have a mechanism for the recovery of sand and other debris contained in the snow, nor a filtration system to reduce the formation of salt spray. Similarly, they cannot be used for anything but melting snow or ice.